22 juni

If you previously owned the standard edition of Ironclad Tactics, you've now been upgraded to the deluxe edition for free, which includes the Rise of Dmitry and Blood and Ironclads add-on campaigns and some other digital goodies. Thanks for your support!

If you've ever played a collectible card game, do you enjoy constructing a deck as much as actually playing the game? If so, then you'll probably enjoy Ironclad Tactics.

It's possible to slog your way through missions with sub-optimal builds/tactics, and granted, it is incredibly frustrating when played in that manner. The core missions are tolerant of bad play, so you can get pretty far into the game before realizing what you're doing wrong. After unwittingly playing badly throughout the main campaign, I eventually hit a wall in the additional content.

The final mission of New Game Plus was particularly brutal, and I barely beat it after a couple hours of reckless attempts. As I moved onto the DLC missions, I found myself frequently devastated by the enemy having 1.5-2 times the resources that I do. Slogging through these missions was becoming increasingly unlikely, and I was questioning whether these missions were fairly balanced. Did I have to rely on the AI screwing up to stand a chance, or was there another way?

At that point, I approached the game from a different angle. First play a mission noncommitally with a simple deck, just to grasp what's being thrown my way. Then go to the drawing board and construct a deck particularly for that mission. With that mindset, I was crushing missions on the first "serious attempt" and feeling accomplished in my decision making.

Playing in this manner is a bit artificial. In what other game do you play a level for the first time solely to analyze it, with no intent of winning? I wonder if Ironclad Tactics could have been more forthcoming with its mission content, rather than have players flail through the motions with an uncatered deck.

I recommend trying Ironclad Tactics with the "study first, succeed later" approach. That's what tipped me into the "recommended" camp. This is certainly a game for analysts/tinkerers.

A game that nearly bankrupted its developer, Ironclad Tactics is nevertheless a superb realtime card game that absolutely shines as a 2 player cooperative experience.

Ironclad Tactics is set during a ‘weird’ version of the American civil war that sees foot troops fighting alongside gigantic iron automatons that command the battlefield with classically inspired weapons including cavalry sabres, cannons and even morale boosting trumpets, welded to their massive frames.

Once you’ve assembled a deck consisting of ironclads, soldiers and various weapons and actions, you need to gain a preset number of points in order to win the round. Points are usually gained by getting your ironclads through the opponent’s defences and off their side of the screen, but certain scenarios can also include the need to hold fortified positions or destroy certain boss enemies.

What makes Ironclad Tactics very different is its unique spin on realtime gameplay. Each card you play from your hand summons a particular unit to the battlefield and as the game ticks over in realtime, those units will then move, attack or perform some other unique action. At first the game can feel overwhelming as you have mere seconds after drawing a new card to decide whether to play it now or wait until your action points increase for the more expensive (not to mention powerful) alternatives already in your hand.

The game has a very satisfying tactile feel to it and the rate at which you earn new cards (usually by accomplishing bonus challenges during missions) is judged perfectly with plenty of new and exciting additions to make to your deck as the game goes on.

Where the game really shines is its cooperative mode. Whether online or over LAN, this game doesn’t present any confusing lobbies or account systems; just a very simple click of a button and you’re in and ready to play.

It’s fast, clean and simple, and the game plays well with two players each taking their own personalized deck into an encounter.

All in all, I really appreciate this game and I hope that developer Zachtronics hasn’t been perturbed by a few tepid review scores because their effort here is worth a whole lot more than all that.

I was looking forward to trying this game a while back, although I had no clue it came from Zachtronics, developer of the infamous SpaceChem. I haven't played much of SpaceChem yet. It intimidates me, and I'd like to devote my full attention to it, when the time comes -- soon, I'd say.

So, when I knew this came from the same people, I wasn't sure if I wanted to play yet. I did anyway.

Well, Ironclad Tactics is a different take on the lane strategy "genre", with the added complexity layer of deck-building.

This game is really, if you don't know what you're expected to do. This is mostly a deck-building game, as other reviewers have stated. Each level has a different challenge for your to overcome, and you overcome it with a different deck, mostly. Certainly, tactics are also very important, but a good tactic will do very little if you don't have the correct deck.

While the concept is interesting, and I did enjoy the game, I can't say that it's perfect. At all. It has several design points that I heartily disagree with, and make it simply a "good" game. Which isn't bad, mind you. Just not quite what I expected after trying SpaceChem.

I've completed the game (without the DLC). Done all the optional objectives as well as game plus. It was a challenging task, for sure, but also very rewarding!

Each level has a main objective. There are several different types of levels: there's the common level, in which you try to get victory points by moving your units into the end of the map, there's an "hold position" level, in which you try to survive for x number of turns, and there's the Boss levels. Each of them play very different. Level variation is also pretty good, which is surprising. It seems very limited with the 3-5 lane maps, but there is a surprising number of subtle changes that make all the different.

Then, there are optional objectives. Some are puzzle levels -- these were easy, but really great! Basically, they teach you a certain mechanic with that: limited deck with 3 or 4 cards, and you have to make the best out of it. Unfortunately, there were only 3 or 4 of these levels.Then, there are some that make you gain VP by other means than moving units to the end of the lane. There are some that make you play with a completely different deck: don't use Y faction, for example.

All of these provide interesting challenges.

Now, what's wrong with it, exactly?

Well, you unlock cards by completing levels and secondary objectives. However, since this is such a deck-oriented game, you'll often be missing the cards you need for a given deck. And so, you have to push through some challenges, until you can go back and complete the secondary objectives. It has a very awkward pacing, like that. Some game encourage you to play previous levels better, but this one does that weirdly, since you can only play some of the previous levels better, since you're missing cards.You'll have to go back and forth a few times, but it's doable. Just not as elegant as I would have liked.

Then, there's the random elements. Argh, the randomness...!So, you build a deck. Great. Then, you have to hope that you draw the correct cards at the right moments. One bad draw can screw you over and make you restart a level. Oh, but wait: there's no restart button! I'll talk about it later.Yeah, lots of restarting, until you get the right draws. It's... not to my liking. Maybe it works in multiplayer. It certainly works in most card game. But here, it's just a matter of restarting... Tactics play a lesser role than the actual cards used, and that's why the randomness doesn't work as well.Also, the decks are very limited -- maximum of 2 factions, exactly 20 cards. So, you can't really create as much variety, or even guarantee to get a certain card, since there are at most 4 or 5 of each.

It's an interesting limitation, and it requires some creativity to beat levels. But then again, the randomness is frustating, since it's a matter of trying over and over until you get the right draws that you envisioned all along.

Now, about the lack of a restart button. I don't know why it is. It makes little sense. Perhaps it's simply a question of the designer saying "create the right deck and you won't have to restart". Maybe...The game came off as a bit too random for that, but I don't know. Just a minor gripe made bigger with the amount of restarting...

Honestly, this is a very frustrating game, at times. Especially when you first start, not exactly sure how it works, it will be daunting. But if you keep trying, you'll learn how the game works, how the AI works, and how certain levels can be easily beat with the right decks.NewGame+ is almost a whole different game, also! Don't just complete the main campaign, thinking that's everything. It's definitely not.

Well, not a perfect game, but certainly a very rewarding experience, if you feel like a challenge!

Brilliant card deck strategy game.Use your Ironclads and soldiers to beat a civil war in the USA.For each move you have action and move points. The game field is quite limited (mostly 5x8 squares) So you have to figure out the right tactic. After every mission your success is awarded with an extra story comic strip. Later you can build your own card decks or beat missions with infinite card dropping. Tip: Use pause button on your Ironclads to stand them. Tip2: You can repair your Ironclads.

Great turn based strategy game that you can enjoy with friends. It can be challenging in some parts but easy in others. Its well thought out and well done across the board. Recommended to co-op players.